This is how to transform an economical beef into something really special – use a herb garlic roast beef marinade to inject extra flavour, juiciness and tenderise. The marinated roast beef comes out of the oven with a deep golden crust, blushing pink inside, unbelievably juicy and bursting with flavour!
Marinated Roast Beef
This is a recipe that was born during the days when I was a poverty stricken uni student who refused to live on packet ramen day after day. I wanted roast beef and gravy, damn it! But of course, my budget would never stretch to Prime Rib, so I’d purchase the best value roast beef cuts I could find then end up chewing my way through dry, tasteless roast beef.
Because that is, after all, the reason we pay top dollar for premium cuts like tenderloin – it’s tender, juicy and full of flavour.
So I started marinating the economical beef I purchased, to add flavour and juiciness. And I never stopped! 🙂
Use this roast beef marinade for economical roast beef cuts to add flavour and juiciness!
Roast Beef Marinade ingredients
Here’s what you need. The ingredients in this are pretty similar to my Steak Marinade. It’s a great one for beef because it adds savoury flavour without overwhelming ie it complements and enhances the beef flavour, rather than overtaking it completely.
(PS Soy sauce acts as a brine in this recipe, injecting salt into the flesh. As opposed to adding Asian flavours – there is nothing remotely Asian about this roast beef recipe!)
Best Roast Beef Cuts
Use this recipe on any economical beef roast cut. It would be wasted on expensive cuts, so do not use it on Prime Rib, beef tenderloin, rump cap (pichana) or any cut of roast beef that you’ve paid top dollar for.
Here’s a list of some of the most common roast beef cuts – I’ve done my best to translate the name of cuts between Australia, the US and UK!
Great for this roast beef marinade
Oyster Blade Roast (Aus) / Top Blade Roast (US) – great for this marinade! Pretty tender cut with decent flavour, very good value. Looks like the pictured roast beef but has a thin line of membrane in the middle.
Bolar Blade (Aus/parts of UK) – perfect for this marinade! An economical cut with fair flavour and is reasonably tender but is enhanced by marinading. This is pictured in the post and video. This cut doesn’t really exist in the US, it’s part of the cow shoulder gets mixed up in chuck meat.
Eye of Round Roast (US) / Girello (Australia) – ideal for this marinade because it’s a leaner, tougher cut of meat with less beefy flavour. In Australia, this cut of beef is usually sold in medallion steak form or pre marinated at supermarkets, so it’s not really available.
Silverside (Aus/UK) / Bottom Round Roast (US) – this is one of the tougher cuts of roast beef, usually slow cooked. It’s used for corned beef and to make things like Pastrami. This marinade is ideal for adding flavour to this cut and it can be cooked to pink as pictured, as long as the beef is sliced very thinly.
Optional Marinade
Rump Roast (Aust) / Top Sirloin Roast (US) – tender, juicy and marbled and a good quality one doesn’t need marinating BUT if you get a very economical one, it will certainly benefit from marinading.
Topside Roast (Aus/UK name) / Top Round Roast (US) – probably the most popular cut for a classic roast beef (ie not marinated). If you’ve purchased a good quality one, there’s no need to marinade. But if you’ve purchased a good value one, this roast beef marinade will certainly enhance it.
Do not use marinade for these beef cuts
Tender, juicy, prime beef cuts – Prime rib / standing rib roast, scotch fillet roast (which is standing rib minus the bone), tenderloin, rump cap (picanha), strip loin roast / Porterhouse roast. These are pricier, quality cuts and a marinade would be wasted on them!
Slow cooking cuts – Brisket, chuck and ribs. These are tough cuts of beef that need to be slow cooked to breakdown the tough fibres. Because of this, I typically do not marinade them as the slow cooking time is when the flavour is infused into the beef – recipes like Pot Roast, Beef Stew, Short Ribs in Red Wine Sauce and Brisket in BBQ Sauce.
How to make a Marinated Roast Beef
The making part is very straight forward – marinade, plonk on veggies and roast on high (240C/450F) to get a nice crust, then turn down to 180C/350F (160C fan-forced) to finish cooking.
MOST IMPORTANT STEP is to rest the beef for a minimum of 20 minutes, ideally 30 minutes, to allow the juices to get sucked back into the beef. If you do not rest, the meat juices will run everywhere the second you cut it = less juicy beef. 😢
How long to marinade roast beef?
Because we’re talking about a piece of meat that’s somewhat larger than chicken breast, you’ll get the best results if you can marinate for 2 to 3 days. Anything less than 24 hours is better than not marinating at all, but it’s less effective.
Final Tips!
Take the beef out of the fridge 1 hour prior – key to take the chill out of the core a bit to encourage even cooking
Slice thinly against the grain – No matter what cut of beef you are using, slice the beef thinly against the grain for the most tender bite. Here’s a diagram for how to slice against the grain – just look for the direction of the meat fibres and cut 90° across them.
Start high, then go low(ish) – this recipe starts high at 240C/450F to get the crust going, then finishes roasting at 180C/350F (160C fan-forced) until it’s perfectly pink and super juicy inside.
Roast on veggies OR a rack – this encourages more even cooking of the roast by elevating it off the base of the pan (well, skillet in my case. Handy to make gravy afterwards rather than man handling a roasting pan on the stove 😇).
You can just use a rack, I personally think anyone would be made to turn down tasty roasted veg that have sucked up the flavour of the marinade AND been basted with juices from the roast beef, but who am I to judge? 🤷🏻♀️
Gravy is optional here – we’ve added good flavour into the beef so you don’t need it. But I’m never one to turn down gravy, so I’ve popped the recipe in the notes.
But truly, it’s great even without. This beef is so juicy, it is literally squirting juices everywhere when you cut into it – and that’s even after resting it for a good 30 minutes.
I really hope I managed to capture how tender and juicy the beef is in the recipe video! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Marinated Roast Beef
Ingredients
- 1.5kg / 3 lb Bolar Blade (pictured in post), Top Blade Roast, Eye of Round Roast, Oyster Blade Roast or other economical roast beef cut (Note 1)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Marinade (Note 2):
- 3 garlic cloves , minced (2.5 tsp jar)
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
- 2 tbsp dijon mustard
- 2 1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 tbsp white sugar
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 2 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp dried rosemary
Vegetables (optional):
- 3 potatoes , cut into 5cm/2″ chunks
- 4 carrots , peeled cut into 4cm/1.7″ pieces
- Salt and pepper
Gravy (optional, Note 4)
- 1/4 cup flour
- 2 1/2 cups beef broth (stock), low sodium
- 3/4 tsp black pepper , coarsely ground
Instructions
- Mix Marinade ingredients in a large ziplock bag.
- Add beef, marinade for 2 days (24 hrs min, 3 days max).
Cooking:
- De-chill – Take beef out of fridge 1 hour prior.
- Preheat oven to 240C/450F (both fan and regular ovens).
- Toss vegetables – Put the vegetables in an ovenproof skillet. Remove beef from marinade. Pour all the marinade onto the vegetables and toss. Top with the beef.
- High temp roast – Drizzle beef with oil, roast 20 minutes.
- Keep roasting – Turn oven down to 180C/350F (160C fan-forced), roast for a further 35 – 40 minutes or until a meat thermometer inserted into the centre registers 44°C / 111°F for medium rare (Note 3 for other doneness). Note – thinner and smaller pieces than pictured / per ingredients will cook faster, so check earlier!
- Rest – Remove beef onto plate, cover loosely in foil and rest for 20 – 30 minutes (internal temp will rise to 52°C / 125°F which is perfect medium rare!).
- Brown vegetables – Return vegetables to oven to brown a bit, if needed.
- To serve, slice beef thinly. Serve roast veg and juices in the skillet OR make gravy (below)!
Gravy (optional)
- Remove vegetables, leave juices in skillet. Skim excess off fat from surface, leave behind 2 tbsp.
- Flour – Place on medium high heat on stove. Add flour and stir for 1 minute.
- Stock – Slowly add beef stock while stirring. If needed, use whisk to remove lumps.
- Thicken – Bring to simmer for 2 minutes until thickens to gravy consistency. Stir in pepper and salt, if needed (taste to check). Serve with beef.
Recipe Notes:
- Oyster Blade Roast (Aus) / Top Blade Roast (US).
- Bolar Blade (Aus/parts of UK)
- Eye of Round Roast (US)
- Silverside (Aus/UK) / Bottom Round Roast (US) – no CORNED silverside, it’s been brined already. Use corned silverside for Pastrami.
- Rump Roast (Aust) / Top Sirloin Roast (US)^ – only if you get super economical ones.
- Topside Roast (Aus/UK name) / Top Round Roast (US)^- only if you get super economical ones.
- expensive roast beef cuts like prime rib / standing rib roast, scotch fillet roast (which is standing rib minus the bone), tenderloin, strip loin roast / Porterhouse roast.
- chuck, brisket, ribs or shank (these need to be slow cooked, recipe needs amendment)
- Mustard – can leave out or use other mustard
- Balsamic – 2 tbsp vinegar
- Sugar – honey, maple, other liquid sweeteners
- Herbs – any of choice
- Onion powder – garlic powder, or omit
- Rare is 49°C/120°F. Remove from oven when it is 41°C/ 106°F.
- Medium rare is 52°C / 125°F. Remove from oven when it is 44°C / 111°F. Medium rare is my preference.
- Medium is 55°C / 130°F. Remove from oven at 48°C/118°F.
- Medium well done is 57°C/135°F. Remove from oven at 49°C/120°F.
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
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Fills the vacuum cleaner twice every week
SO. MUCH. FUR!!!🙄
Made this tonight and it was fabulous! I subbed the potatoes for butternut squash, but other than that followed the recipe to a T. The pan gravy was incredible! Husband said this was the best meal I’ve ever made.
Another great recipe. Marinade was awesome. I didn’t do the gravy because wanted to taste the potatoes and veggies that roasted in marinade with roast. Tasted amazing.
I’ve read that marinating eye round more than 24 hours can cause the tissues to break down too much, resulting in a “mushy” texture. Hope you don’t mind my double-checking that 2-3 days in this marinade will produce a tender but not mushy roast.
I’ve not had any issues with this length of time – just no longer that 3 days 🙂 N x
Hi Nagi
Another amazing recipe- I used a 1.2kg oyster blade. I did trim a big strip of fat and some sinew from the outside – was too worried it would not be good with it on (maybe I should leave it on?)
It was delicious & tender (except for that “oyster” gristley bit!!) 50min- medium to well was my preference
You really are a genius!!
Happy New Year 🥳
I rated it 5 stars but it looks like only 3 came out!!
Please change it if you can or at least leave my comment about it!!!
Hi Nagi – looking forward to making this for Christmas this year! Just a question about oven temperature – is the original temperature of 240’C right for a fan oven as well?
Hi Nagi, I think I’m about to embark upon a disaster! I have a piece of fillet from Aldi and the reviews of Jindarra meat are that it’s tough! Cooking it tonight and I wondered the best way to tenderise it (it’s one piece so am roasting). Would this reciope work. Help!
Doing this recipe for Friday your web-site is fantastic have had great fun cooking some of your recipes. Dozer makes it as well puts a smile on my face
Malcolm (Zimbabwe)
I made this using a Top Sirloin roast, and marinated it for approx. 30 hours.
The flavour was incredible and everyone (including my finicky 6 and 8 year old) gobbled it up in record time.
Thanks for sharing this great recipe Naig!
🙂
Hi, does the temperature or cooking time change at all if you’re roasting the beef on its own (family has decided the beef must go with mashed potatoes and steamed veg instead?). Also, if you’re using a frozen piece of meat, should you put the marinade on the frozen cut, then leave it in fridge to defrost for a few days with marinade, or is it better to defrost, then marinade?
Thanks!
Hi Kat, the cook time will be the same. I would thaw first and then marinade, thawing meat sometimes produces excess liquid so I would drain this off first before putting in the marinade 🙂 – N x
Would you think this could work with a pork roast?
Hi Kris, what cut of pork do you have – why don’t you try this recipe: https://letfedtende.today/pork-shoulder-roast-with-crispy-crackling/%3C/a%3E N x
Roast beef is my favorite meal, I have made this recipe a few Times with amazing results, I buy 2 roasts marinate them for 2 days then freeze one with the marinade
Hi–gluten free here-substitute for soy or can it be deleted? Thank you
Hi Char – I’d use a gluten free soy or coconut aminos here – N x
Terrible. Meat was tender but the flavour was horrible
Hi Matt, sorry to hear you didn’t like it – I’ve had great reviews on this recipe – what in particular did you not like? N x
Hi Nagi. I have accidentally bought a whole Girello (Eye of Round) roast, thinking it was a whole eye fillet! Do you think this recipe would work using Sous Vide?
Hi Kathleen, I haven’t cooked this particular recipe before but I have a lot of experience with Sous Vide. It’s worth a try with this recipe, it might be a dud but it also might be your new favourite dish! I know that sometimes when you SV marinated meat is has a tendency to intensify the marinated flavour. There are loads of other Eye round recipes around that are dedicated to that cooking method. The Anova app is actually fantastic for finding recipes, you don’t even need an Anova to use it! 🙂
Passed up a sirloin tip. 2nd thoughts. went back. only thing left was a eye of round. Went with it. 3 #. Just the two of us. !st meal with potatoes, carrots was great. Made gravy thinner than you suggested. Have since had French dip sandwiches with various sides 3 times. Am now looking at leftover cuts and veggies for hash. What was originally a major expense for two has turned into very economical leftovers. And super tasty. Thanks for your recipe.
Marinade nearly didn’t make it to the beef, so good I wanted to drink it! Fabulous again as always. 👌🏻
Thank you for this recipe! I look for it every time I cook a blade roast. This is the only recipe that gets that tough roast to as close as tender as a tenderloin! And delicious to boot! 🙂
OMG! Amazing!
estupenda receta gracias
HI Nagi !
Your page is my cooking gospel.
I have a beef roast cap that I want to cook.
Can i use this same recipe on a roast cap? And if so, any suggestions/tweaks to your recipe to cater for this piece of beef ??
As you know, it has a thick top layer of fat. Not sure if the marinade will work as well on this piece of beef.
And also, some say to fry it for a few minutes on each side before placing it in the oven.
Thank you in advance!
Roula x